It's the next morning and Laura turns over feeling an empty bed next to her. She wakes up to find a note resting on Luke's pillow. She was hoping it was good news, just Luke saying he had to go to the club to check something out and would be back, but in her gut she knew that it wouldn't say that. She got up and gathered her strength before reading the note.
Laura,
What happened last night shouldn't have happened. I shouldn't have allowed it to happen and give you false hopes that I am getting passed this. The truth is that I'm not passed it at all. I'm still angry and hurt by your betrayal and I need some time to think about everything that has happened. I went to the club to be alone with my thoughts. Tell the kids that this has nothing to do with them and I will be back to see them, but I need time.
Luke
Laura closed the letter and started to cry. Her worst fears were coming true. Luke was actually considering the possibility of leaving her. She didn't know what to do anymore. She lied back down, exhausted from thinking of what might happen if Luke could never get passed it.
Lesley got up and went downstairs, expecting to see Laura making breakfast or Luke getting up off the couch. She was shocked to see the whole downstairs completely empty and quiet. She went upstairs to Laura's room to see if she knew where Luke might be.
When Lesley walked into Laura's room, she noticed her daughter lying in bed, crying. She didn't know if she should just leave and give Laura some time to herself. Laura turned and noticed her mother standing in the doorway with a worried look on her face.
Laura: Hi, Mom.
Lesley: Is something wrong?
Laura: Just the same. Luke's not here with me.
Lesley: You have to give it time.
Laura: How much time? At least Luke was in the house before. Now he's at his club and I don't know when he'll be back, if he even decides to come back.
Lesley: What happened?
Laura: I thought we made a breakthrough, but I was wrong. I shouldn't have planned to set Luke up like that. If I had just been patient like you said I should, then maybe my husband would still be here.
Lesley: Would you like to start at the beginning?
Laura: Last night when Luke came home, I had his pillow and blanket up here with me. He thought it was to make him come upstairs so we could talk, but really it was to set my plan in motion.
Lesley: What plan?
Laura: Well, it sounds stupid, but it worked a little. I put a few drops of my perfume, his favorite, on his pillow and hoped that the smell would trigger his memory of how much he still loves me and wants to be with me. It did since some time in the middle of the night he came to our bed and spent the rest of the night up here.
Lesley: So it sounds like it did work.
Laura: Not exactly. I woke up to find only this instead of my husband.
Laura hands Lesley the note and Lesley reads it. She folds it back up and places it on the table, trying to think about what she would say next. Now she understood why Laura had been crying when she walked in.
Lesley: Laura, the note says exactly what I've been saying. He needs time. You can't expect everything to go back to normal only after a week.
Laura: I don't expect that, but I did expect some progress by now. Instead, it seems like it has been getting worse with time.
Lesley: Then why are you lying here in bed when your husband is at the club?
Laura: What?
Lesley: Go there and talk to him. If you want to make progress, then you're going to have to take a step towards it. It's no good complaining about it here in bed when Luke is not even in the house.
Laura: But...
Lesley: Laura, I know you. You're not the type to take a fight lying down. So why are you doing that now? If you have something to say to Luke and he is running away, then it is your job to run after him. He'll listen to you even if he pretends not to.
Laura: Alright. I hope you're right.
Lesley: I'm always right.
Lucky had overheard the beginning of the conversation, long enough to hear that his father split and went to the club. He took off also, trying to find out what was going to happen next. Lucky arrived at the club in record time. He walked in and found his father alone at the bar, on his way to getting drunk. He pulled up a seat next to him.
Lucky: Got any for me?
Luke: Cowboy, what are you doing here?
Lucky: Overheard that you were here. Are you leaving?
Luke: If you mean, is there a chance I'm staying here, yeah.
Lucky: Then I want to stay too.
Luke: No. Absolutely not. Your mother needs you with her right now.
Lucky: And I need you with me.
Luke: I'll be around a lot. She will not keep me away from my kids.
Lucky: I don't see why you are the one giving up everything when it was her secret that is destroying our family.
Luke: That's how the world works, Luck.
Lucky: Then it sucks.
Luke: Have I claimed otherwise?
Lucky: Dad, I don't know if I can stay there without you there with me. I can't seem to look at Mom right now, and if you leave me alone there...
Luke: I promise to be around a lot. If you want, I'll spend my days there, but the nights are another thing.
Lucky: What happened?
Luke: Nothing that concerns you.
Lucky: No secrets... remember?
Luke: Let's just say that being in the same house as your mother, especially at night, is making me relive old memories that I don't want to relive right now.
Lucky: Why not?
Luke: Because it's all in the past. Thinking I knew her completely. It's all destroyed. I can't live with that right now, so the only solution is to try to avoid it.
Laura: Which means you need to try to avoid me?
Laura walked in with determination set on her face. She wanted to talk this out with Luke, and this time she wasn't going to let him walk away. Lucky stared at both of his parents, not knowing whether to be happy or duck for cover.
